Re: medicare

Oh, yeah--and there will be benefits for you, unless the program is privatized or outsourced.

On Jan 5, 2006, at 2:22 PM, Donna wrote:

I think you found the C part Jim! :)

I doubt if there will be any benefits for me when the
time comes, as either it will be dissolved or I won't
live that long... like Kitty I have few years to go
14+....

I did start to research this for my mother and FIL,
who both when I started questioning them about exactly
what type of medical services they are currently
using- was told to butt out. Geesh....

Donna

--- james singer <islandjim1@verizon.net> wrote:


A search of the Medicare site reveals that there is
no Part C--unless
it stands for Confusion, in which case it s subsumed
into all other
parts.

On Jan 5, 2006, at 1:12 PM, kmrsy@netzero.net wrote:


Jim, really very nice of you to give a concise

explanation. It's still

sort of vague (you don't need to explain, though)

to me because I've

never been involved in Medicare in the first place

and am not eligible

for 12+ more years (emphasis on "+" because

they'll probably push it up

to 70 by the time I get there)


Also, for me it has been all or nothing. I had

insurance coverage from

age 16 to 51 and it was always fully funded by

employers and included

prescription coverage, eyes, dental, etc. Now I

have no insurance,

fully
unfunded by me.


So when the time does come, you're telling me I'll

have to deal with

parts A through D (did you mention a C?) - and

probably by then they'll

throw in an E and an F.


Hmmm.....maybe I should just concentrate on

keeping healthy.

Kitty


-- james singer <islandjim1@verizon.net> wrote:
Medicare is a mess, mostly because of "free

enterprise, economic

competition" shibboleths--none of which pertain

the medical

marketplace.

Basically, there are two kinds of

Medicare--fee-for-service Medicare,

controlled mostly by the rapacious insurance

industry, and HMO

Medicare, controlled by opportunistic third

parties such as Humana,

Universal Health Care, and United Health Care.

Hospitalization [called

Medicare Part A] is not a big deal in either kind

because the coverage

is essentially the same. The Big Deal is Part B,

euphemistically called

"physicians' services."

Part B Medicare is supposed to cover physicians'

services, but doesn't.

There is a large financial gap between what most

geezers need and what

Medicare will pay for. Covering this financial gap

is where the

fee-for-service hucksters and the HMO hucksters go

there separate ways.

First, be aware that Medicare [currently] deducts

$88.50 from your

monthly Social Security check to "pay" for Part B.

If you are a

fee-for-service person [that is, that your family

doc knows at least as

much as the average of the rest of the medical

profession], you will

probably have to buy a Medi-Gap insurance policy

to cover the

difference between the pittance Medicare will pay

him and his monthly

Mercedes payment. From ARRP, this kind of

insurance costs about $135.00

and up [bells and whistles stuff] per month. But

it doesn't cover

drugs--so if you've got a bunch of drug

prescriptions, you may want a

Plan D policy. That's the new marketing Hoo-Ha

with all the confusing

jibberish. And since there are a zillion D plans

[with no requirement

that they have the same formulary], the amount one

saves depends on the

discount given by a specific plan for a specific

drug, which is

precisely why it is so confusing and difficult to

choose the best one

plan for any one person.

If you decide to be an HMO person, there are two

or three things worth

worrying about. First, of course, is the HMO--an

HMO is an HMO is an

etc. Restrictive panel of providers, utilization

review, co-payments,

and so on. Second is Medicare HMOs have a history

of cutting and

running. They are allowed to market their plans by

geographic area

[usually a county]; and if for some reason, a

county does not develop

enough subscribers or yield enough participating

providers, the HMO

simply goes away, leaving it's "members" to

scramble for

fee-for-service coverage.

The upside of HMO membership is, one, Social

Security pays the

membership fee; two, SS does not deduct $88.50

from your monthly check;

and, three, HMO coverage includes drug

coverage--with co-payments [no

deductibles] of $10 per generic and $20 per

proprietary drug. This

benefit effectively cuts the price of most drugs

by at least 50

percent.


On Jan 4, 2006, at 2:38 PM, Chapel Ridge Wal Mart

National Hearing

Center wrote:

Locally, Humana has a booth set up in Wal-Mart to

answer questions.

Then
the man gives talks everyday at lunches provided

free at Chicago Uno

or
Golden Coral.  He asked a co-worker and me to

come, but I'm not old

enough
and Jenny is only 30.  Not sure why we'd be

there.  But lunch at Uno

would
be nice....  I hear there are as many as 40 or 50

plans to choose from

in
some states.  What a pain that would be.

Kitty
----- Original Message -----
From: <Cersgarden@aol.com>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 9:51 AM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] medicare was Somebody stop me



In a message dated 1/4/06 12:45:22 AM,

judylee@lewiston.com writes:



if your current insurance provides medicine

coverage,

the penalty is waived if you later need to use

the medicare benefit

for
medicine.


That is great to know.   The company sent us a

letter stating if we

signed

up

for coverage under one of the plans we would

lose all provided

insurance
coverage.   As confusing as it is, I hope no one

would make that

mistake.
     Ceres





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